Release that Witch

”Thump, thump, thump.”

Uncle Bucky and Sanko, who lived next door, came to Good’s mud hut at dawn and knocked on the door.

”Good, did you get up? We should go!”

”I’ll be ready in a moment!”

Good gobbled down his porridge and wiped his mouth. ”I’ve got to get going,” he said to a girl who was busy making the bed.

She looked up and asked, ”Why don’t you want me to go with you?”

”I’ve told you many times. You’re too young to have a job here,” Good said impatiently. ”Stop talking about how you worked back in the Kingdom of Wolfheart. Do you still want to do those kinds of things? Stay at the house and I’ll bring you something delicious for lunch.”

The girl’s eyes shone with excitement. ”Popcorn—”

”It’s too expensive. I think an egg pancake is tasty enough or are you saying you don’t like the taste of a nice pan fried runny egg?”

The girl felt her mouth watering.

”So just stay at the house, do you understand?” Before leaving the hut, Good asked the girl, ”What’s your name now?”

”Rachel.”

”And what should you call me?”

She replied after a little hesitance, ”Bro-Brother.”

”Very well, don’t forget it.” Good wrapped a linen cloth around his neck and pushed the door open. A cold wind blew across his face. It was a freezing cold morning, but the temporary residential area was already full of vigor and vitality.

Rows of mud huts stretched throughout the snowfield like rolling waves. Wisps of smoke continuously rose from the huts and people were busy with all kinds of preparations. Through the smoke, he could just make out the vague shape of the city on the other side of the river. When the temporary residential area began to hum, the city was still so quiet that it seemed as if it was sleeping.

Uncle Bucky and Sanko, who stood a few dozen paces away from Good, yelled, ”What’re you looking at? Come on!”

”I’m coming!” He closed the door of his hut and ran towards them.

A new stone road along the Redwater River had been opened to traffic recently. Now, people from the temporary residential area only needed 15 minutes to walk to downtown Neverwinter, which was about 2,000 meters away. This was different from taking a mountain path covered by snow as they did not need to take cautious steps walking on this road in the winter. But since Good and his neighbors wanted to get to the central square before the release of the new recruitment notice, they still set off early.

Soon, they picked up many companions along the way. These people were also immigrants living in the temporary residential area. This area was so large that Good could never see the end of it. According to his neighbor, these mud huts for immigrants used to be built inside the city, but, after a while, the city had not been able to accommodate all the new comers and had decided to move all the mud huts to this area. Every year, the government would build new huts for the new immigrants, so no one knew exactly how many immigrants lived here at the moment.

The only thing that Good knew for certain was that most of the people on this road were heading for the central square, wanting to find jobs.

”Have you thought about what kind of job you want?” asked Uncle Bucky.

”I want an easy, simple job, such as the snow sweeping and the de-icing job...” Sanko replied while rubbing his head. ”I prefer to make some quick cash to support myself this winter, so I like part-time jobs. If I get that kind of job, the money that I earn in a day can buy enough food for two days. Of course, I’ll also consider some other jobs if there are suitable positions in the special recruitment program.”

The special recruitment programs usually offered better pay and had specific prerequisites. Actually, the city was full of various kinds of prerequisites, all job recruitment notices were issued by the Administrative Office instead of some individual. Every week, the office would update the notice and it would include hundreds of positions. Good was really impressed by their efficiency.

But compared to the other fascinating things in this city, these timely and detailed recruitment notices were nothing.

There were three kinds of recruitment programs: the special recruitment program, part-time job recruitment and full-time job recruitment. A full-time job could provide higher pay and a more promising future, but an immigrant, who did not have an ID card or a diploma in primary education, was not eligible to apply for these kinds of jobs. Most newcomers could only choose to take part-time jobs to support themselves.

Sanko was taking elementary education classes at night. If he passed the assessment, he would be able to become an official resident and get an ID card. Given his situation, he intended to find a part-time job. It did not pay well, but it would not take up too much of his time. .

”What about you?” Sanko looked at Good.

”I need a well-paid job.” Good shrugged. ”I don’t mind hard work.”

Good needed to support Rachel.

They had come to the city during this winter. They already felt lucky enough to have a mud hut. For them, it was still too much to hope for a nice residence or eating one meat-based meal every week.

The only thing that disappointed Good was that Rachel was only 14 and did not meet the minimum working age requirement of 16. But since they had exerted a great deal effort to get out of a difficult situation, he did not want her to lead a hard life anymore.

”Don’t get too tired,” Uncle Bucky said. ”It’s easy to get sick during the winter. Medical treatment is expensive.”

”Relax, I’m in good health!” Good patted his chest. He was not bragging. If it had not been for his humble origins, he would have become a squire to a knight a long time ago. ”What are you going to do, Uncle?”

”I just came to accompany you guys.”

”What?” Sanko was startled.

Good quickly thought of something. ”Did you already...”

”Aha, that’s it.” Uncle Bucky laughed out. ”The foreman of the sixth engineering team has agreed to hire me. The contract will be delivered to me in two days.”

”That’s really... awesome!” Sanko exclaimed. ”It’s a full-time job. Your salary will be doubled! And soon you’ll have enough money to pay the down payment. After that, you’ll become an official resident of Neverwinter and get your ID card!”

”Yeah, that’s the only way for me to get an ID. I’m too old to learn how to read and write.” Bucky waved his hand. ”And I’ve been here for almost two years before I got this chance. I can only say that I’m too stupid. In this city, you young guys will get many more opportunities than me.”

Some people around them heard their conversation and came over to congratulate Uncle Bucky as he was going to become a subject of the king very soon.

Good felt a little confused seeing this.

In his opinion, obtaining an ID card was just a way to find a better job, but these people seemed to care more about the identity than the job. It sounded as if all of them thought it was a great honor to become a subject of His Majesty.

They chatted all the way to the central square.

A group of people had already gathered in the square, but most of them were residents of the city and they didn’t usually compete with immigrants for jobs.

A new recruitment notice was put up in the south side of the square. Every now and then, a child would come to them and ask, ”Do you need me to read the notice to you? Only ten bronze royals.”

”No, thanks. We can read,” Bucky replied with a smile. In fact, among the three men, only Sanko had learned how to read and write, but even he still had a hard time reading.

”Why are these guys peddling in this place? They can read, so they should be able to get real jobs,” Good mumbled. ”They can earn much more by doing that.”

”They must be students from the school that haven’t reached the working age.” Sanko looked around and explained.

”What?”

”Yeah, I’ve heard about it in my night class.” Sanko lowered his voice. ”To show the students the importance of knowledge, the teachers often encourage them to use what they’ve learned to make money. By doing so, the teachers attract even more students to the school. I also want to try when I don’t have to work in the daytime.”

”Ugh... if this is okay, maybe I should let Rachel come here to make some money. She can read,” Good thought while glancing at the children.

”Hey, look there!” Uncle Bucky suddenly pointed to the southern tip of the square. ”There are a lot of people!”

”Is it a special recruitment program?” Good exchanged a knowing look with Sanko.

”Hurry up. Let’s go there to have a look!”

The three men immediately ran to the southern side of the square. There was a person with a tent behind him, who came to explain the program to everyone.

Good felt thrilled after hearing the person describe the program.

It was indeed a special recruitment program and it seemed to be unprecedentedly easy. It did not require a diploma or an ID. It only needed men in good health, who could pass a series of assessments. The names of the assessments sounded so strange that Good could not understand any of them, but he was confident that he could meet any physical fitness requirement.

The most surprising fact about this program was that it was actually a military recruitment.